Spring Break
Junior pitcher Samantha Hurst enjoys being on the softball field and in the woodlands. She's an environmental science major and somewhat of a "green" advocate. "I like being outdoors a lot and I like studying the different issues with the environment like global warming and waste management," Hurst said.
Spring Break's over folks. As if this writer didn't have enough research to do in the last seven days, curiosity coaxed this amateur detective into peeking overseas into the careers of past basketball Kangaroos. Here's the scoop, albeit limited. Quinton Day 2004-07 When it was last reported on these pages, Day had left in August, headed for Hungary.
Running and jumping seemed to be at a premium for a pair of UMKC track and field team members. The Kangaroos were competing on March 28-29 in Columbia, Mo. at the 2008 Missouri Relays. On Friday, UMKC senior jumper Courtney Huber captured the high jump competition after extending over a high mark of 5'3".
With the field wet from showers, the UMKC softball team seemed to be stuck in the mud throughout most of its series against the Centenary College Ladies on March 18-19 at Cleveland Park. The Kangaroos suffered three losses to Centenary, falling to 0-5 in Summit League action.
The UMKC softball team won its first Summit League game of the season 3-2 against the Southern Utah University (SUU) Thunderbirds, but lost the next two games of the series 7-6 and 8-0. The Roos played SUU March 21-22 at the Kathryn Berg Field in Cedar City, Utah.
After picking up its first Summit League victory of the season during the previous weekend, the young UMKC softball squad seemed to be turning the corner. Two games with the Creighton Blue Jays slowed that thinking down some, but the Kangaroos turned around and swapped shutouts with the North Dakota State University (NDSU) Bison.
UMKC women's golf coach Courtney Mahon and her team should have accumulated quite a few frequent flyer miles since the middle of March. On March 17, the squad travelled to Patterson, Calif. and one week later were in Little Rock, Ark. for two more rounds of links action.
The UMKC men's tennis team tasted victory for the first time this season on March 20, when the squad traveled to Colorado Springs, Colo. The Kangaroos out-lasted Rhode Island University to claim a 4-3 victory. In doubles, freshman Serge Ristivojevic and sophomore Patrick Smith put away Rhode Island down the stretch 9-8, while sophomores Erwin Quintanilla and Dennis Schwarz got the nod in their match.
The UMKC women's tennis team opened its conference season on Thursday, March 20, in Tulsa, Okla. The Kangaroos snagged their first victory of the season, after suffering seven losses out of conference to start the year. The Roos conquered Centenary University 6-1, to end a 58-match losing streak, but dropped matches against Western Illinois University (WIU) and Oral Roberts University (ORU) the following day.
The grass in Little Rock, Ark. must have looked a little greener to the UMKC men's golf team on March 17-18 at the UALR/First Tee Intercollegiate. After two rounds of tournament play the Kangaroos found themselves all alone in third place. The squad was competing in a field of 21 teams.
Photo dan stroud The UMKC volleyball team knows the importance of practice, even in the off-season. Volleyball's informal spring tournament season kicked off last Saturday at Longview Community College. The squad played four games throughout the day in a round robin format.
